Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas.
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA
MANILA, Philippines — After another bill seeking a wage hike was filed before the House of Representatives, Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas said that such measures must be considered urgent so that Congress can quickly deliberate it.
Brosas, in a statement on Wednesday, said that the proposed bills in the House and the Senate that center on wage increase are already “gathering dust.”
The lawmaker said this after Deputy Speaker and Trade Union Congress of the Philippines Rep. Raymond Democrito Mendoza filed House Bill No. 7871, or the proposed Wage Recovery Act of 2023.
“The pile of proposed bills granting wage increase is already catching dust both in the House of Representative and Senate. Sa tindi ng kinakaharap na krisis ng ordinaryong mamamayan, hindi tama na manatiling bulag, pipi, at bingi ang gobyerno sa kanila[ng] panawagan na dagdag-sahod,” she added.
(The pile of proposed bills granting wage increases is already catching dust both in the House of Representatives and Senate. With this bad crisis for the ordinary people, the government should not remain blind, mute, and deaf to the call for a wage increase.)
“Today, another bill was also filed pushing for a P150 across-the-board wage increase in the daily wages of workers and employees in the private sector. The House leadership must prioritize these measures to address the declining real value of wages,” she added.
Last March 13, Brosas and the rest of the House’s Makabayan bloc filed House Bill No. 7568, which calls for a P750 across-the-board hike in the daily wages of employees amid the high prices of basic commodities.
The bill was forwarded by the Committee on Rules to the Committee on Labor and Employment last March 15. It has been pending, however, at the said committee.
READ: House bill seeks P750 pay hike for private sector workers
It differs from the bill filed by Mendoza, which seeks to increase the private sector workers’ daily salaries by P150.
READ: Bill pushing for P150 increase in private workers’ daily wages filed in House
Brosas said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should take concrete steps towards safeguarding the welfare of Filipino worker instead of merely hyping news of economic growth.
“President Marcos Jr. is quick to hype any [growth news] but refuses to address the woes of the working class. We urge the government to take concrete steps and certify the wage hike bills as urgent,” she noted. With reports from Aliah Gumasing, INQUIRER.net trainee